Barrel-making machine and method



April 12, 1932.

A. R. WALTON BARREL MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD Original Filed March 31,1927 4 sheets-'sheet INVENTOR I 9 w M? 14- ATTORNEY April 12, 1932. A.R. WA LTON 1,853,102

BARREL MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD Original Filed March 31, 1927ASheets-Sheet 2 [NVENTUR Qe. 1. 8M5- A TTORNE r15 April 1932. A. R. WAlTON 1,853,102

BAfiREL MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD Original Filld March 31, 1927 4Sheeis-Sheet s IN VENTOK ATTORN EY A ril 12', 1932. A. R. WALTON BARRELMAKING MACHINE AND METHOD Original Filed March 31, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR M Q 9 2%..

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED? srA'rss PATENT orsigce]ALEXANDER. R. WALTON, or" LAKEWOOD, onro BARREL-MAKING MACHINE ANDmn'rnon Application filed March '31, 1927, Serial No. 179,880. RenewedAugust 8, 1931.

V This invention relates to the manufacture of articles from pulpedfibrous material-or paper forming stock, and particularly to themanufacture of non-plane surfaced boards, slats orthe like, suchas'barrel or'keg staves, from such .pulped fibrous material.

One of the principal objects of this inventi-onisfto provide as a newarticle ofmanu 'facture,- a curved board. slat or the like, such 19"as-a barrel stave,- formed of vpulped fibrous material; and to providecontainers or barrels formed from this material. 7

Another object of this invention is to pro vide a method for makingarticles of the character mentioned from pulped fibrous material. I r VStill another object of thisinvention' is to provide'apparatus-forcarrying out the above method.

Other objects and advantagesof this'invention will be apparent from thefollowing da scription' when taken in connectionwith the accompanyingdrawings. 1 V

In the drawings in which like characters of reference designate likeparts throughout 7 the several views thereof; I 7 'rFigs. 1,2 and .3 arediagrammaticelevations of apparatushfor carrying out the methodof thisinvention; the several views when placed end to end disclosing. the.com+ plete machine;

-Fig. 4 is a side elevation ofa cooperating;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation-of a modified forni of cooperating. shapingrolls;

F-ig'lQ is a vertical sectional view on the line 1'2-12 of Fig.;11-; and

igs ll3 and 14ers side andend elevations ,.Fig. 5 is verticalisectional.viewonthe rel made in accordance-with this invention:

respectively of a barrelstave as formed on the shaping rolls of Figs. 11and 12.

The present invention provides a method of forming non-plane surfacedboards, slats or. the like from paper-forming stock or pulpedfibrous-material. This pulped fibrous material may bederived from anysuitable source, and may be wood-pulp, straw-pulp, pulped fibrousgrasses, or any of the usual board-forming stock. While the invention 7is particularly described in connectionwith the manufacture of barrel orkeg strives, and the production of barrels or kegs as the completed.products, it is to be understood that articles in a traveling orcontinuously moving stream. This method comprises essen-- tially theforming of the pulped fibrous material into a traveling board web, theshaping of this traveling board web during formation and while stillplastic to the desired f shape of the articles being manufactured anddrying the formed and shaped :web. The

shaping ofithe plastic traveling web is ac'comprocessed .sothat it iscapable of sustaining its ownweight. The traveling web may be said to'bemoldedto: the shape of the articles being manufactured. The formednon p'lane surface iof'the web is preferably preserved by drying onconveying surfaces shaped to cor 0 respond to the'shapeof the web. Thedried andshapedweb is then cutuplintany desired I mannerfinto the formedarticles, which may be further processed as by taperin beveling theedges,iand the like, to finish the articles.

Referringito.thedrawings, in. which is discomplete machine for themanufacture of barrel or keg staves. The .completemachine .plishedbyapres'sing action between shaping" surfaces, after the web hasbeensufficiently comprises essentially a forming part or machine A,shaping means B to shape the board web during formation, drying means Cfor drying the formed and shaped web, and cutters or slit-tors D. Theforming machine A may be of any suitable conventional character. Asherein illustrated it comprises a cylinder mold having a tank 11 forcontaining a supply of board-forming stock, a cylinder roll 12 dippingtherein, and a pressure roller 13 running on top ofthe cylinder roll 12in the usual manner. Upon rotation of the cylinder roll 12 within thetank 11, a layer of the stock is picked up upon the surface of the roll12, which rotates in the direction shown, and is squeezed and formedinto a web between the pressure roller 13 and roll 12. Vhile only oneboard-forming cylinder mold is illustrated, it is to be understood thattwo or more cylinder molds could be provided in series to form a boardof the desired thickness, as is well understood in the art.

From the cylinder mold, the board web is transferred and engaged betweentwo endless traveling felts 20 and 21, which felts travel over aplurality of guide pulleys 22 and respectively, each felt being providedwith a suitable tensioning pulle 24. The board web supported between thetwo felts 20 and 21 is passed between a plurality of pressure rollscomprising upper and lower rolls 26 and 27. These rolls may be madeadjustable toward each other in the usual manner, and serve as squeezerolls to squeeze a certain percentage of the remaining water out of theboard under formation, these rolls serving to extract sufficient waterfrom the web so that it is in proper condition to be passed through thefirst wet press indicated at 28.

This first press may be of conventional construction, and consists ofupper and lower press rolls mounted for adjustment relative to eachother, and between which the board web is passed after passing throughthe sets of pressure rollers 26 and 27.

After leaving the first press, the wet web is shown as being received byand supported between traveling felts 30 and 31, which felts travel overa plurality of supporting and tensioning pulleys, similar to theconstruction for the felts 20 and 21. The board web thus supportedbet-ween these felts 30 and 31 is passed through a second wet pressindicated at 32. The second wet press 32 and the associated felts 30 and31 may be omitted if desired, and the board passed directly from the wetpress 28 to the shaping means B. However, sufficient processing shouldbe given the traveling board web so as to insure the drying of the webto such an extent that it will carry its own weight when passed to theshaping means B, and this is ordinarily insured by the provision of thetwo presses, as shown.

The shaping means B is shown as comprising a plurality of sets ofcooperating rolls having non-plane forming surfaces. Each set of shapingrolls comprises an upper roll 40 and a lower roll 41, which arepreferably made adjustable relative to each other in the manner of pressrolls. The rolls 40 and 41 are provided respectively with convex andconcave cooperating forming surfaces. The relative positioning of theconcave and convex surfaces is immaterial, so long as one of the rollsis provided with a convex shaping surface, and the other roll with acomplementary concave shaping surface.

The construction of one form of shaping rolls is particularlyillustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the curves of the surfaces of theseshaping rolls being shown of an exaggerated size in these figuresforpurposes of clearer illustration. The lower roll 41 is provided alongits length with a plurality of convex curved surfaces 42. Each of thesecurved surfaces 42 has an overall length which is equal to the length ofthe barrel stave being manufactured. As an illustration, considering afour-foot barrel stave to be the article being manufactured, each of thesurfaces 42 would have a length of four feet the overall length of theroll 40 thus being divided into curved surfaces of the length of fourfeet. Considering a traveling board web inches wide as being produced onthe forming machine A, this web would conveniently form threebarrelstave lengths of four feet each across the width of the web,leaving some three inches overlapping at the edge at each side of theweb, thus allowing some excess for cutting or trimming. If barrel stavesof a length of two feetsix inches are being made, such a webconveniently forms five barrel stave lengths across the width. The curveof each of the surfaces 42 is made to conform to the curvature of thebulging type barrel stave being manufactured, so that a bulgingcontainer may be formed from these staves. In usual barrel staves of alength of about two feet six inches, the rise of the bulge may be abouttwo to two and one-half inches or more. These figures are not in any wayintended to be of a limiting nature, but are merely given as examples toaid in an understanding of the invention.

The upper roll 40 is formed with a plurality of concave surfaces 44across the length thereof, as shown in Fig. 4. The shape or curvature ofthe surfaces 44 of the roll 40 is such as to be complementary with thesurfaces 42 of the roll 41. The rolls 40 and 41 areadjusted relative toeach other to provide preferably a slight clearance between theircooperating forming surfaces. The clearance is such however that thetraveling board web passing between these rolls is pressed or squeezedbetween the forming surface with the result that the web is molded orshaped by these surfaces to the shape of barrel staves.

The shaping rolls are rotated so as to havean effective surface speedwhich is the same as that of the traveling board web the twocooperatingirolls being p-referablygeared together with one of the rollsdriven from a suitable source of power (not shown) In machinesof thischaracter it is found desira ble to run the same at relatively lowspeeds,

such as 100 to 200 feet a minute or less.

-.-The board web entering. the'first setfof 1 shaping rolls. asindicated at c 1:7; .is transofthe traveling web as indicated at 48 and49 respectively correspond to thesurfaces of the rolls and 41respectively whenv laid out in a plane; In this manner the travelingboard web is shapedto form a plurality of barrel staves which areconnected to each-other at '7 f theiradj-acent edges.

- Preferably. another" set of cooperating shaping rolls as indicated at50 are provided to again" exert pressure and a ;furthershapingactionupon the board web which has been shaped by the first setof rolls40and 41. The second set is provided to perfect the shape of theindividual staves of the traveling web, and to counteract any tendencyfor the staves to pull or spring somewhat out of shape due tothe tensionin the web.

The formed and shaped web then travels through the drier C. In ordertoefi'ectively preserve the shape of the web after passing through theshaping rolls, conveying surfaces are preferably provided for the drierwhich correspond to the shape of the formed web. vAs shown theseconveying surfaces comprisea plurality of rotating rolls positionedbeneath the traveling web and in contact with the lower surface thereof.These rolls are shaped 'to correspond to the shape of the lower rolls ofthe shaping rolls, and thus have a shape which corresponds ,to the shapeand curvature of the traveling web; The rolls 55 may be steam-heated inthe manner of conventional drying cylinders to assist in the dryingoperation, and arepositively driven in any-conventional manner. at aneffective surface speed correspondingto the speed of the web. Preferablythe drier is of the. tunnel orkilntypehaving an enclosing casing 56,with an inlet 57 at one end throughwhich heated air is supplied to'the 7interior of the drier and an outletj58 for the escape of the moistenedair atgthe opposite end.

In order to insure the proper formation of the barrelstaves, asecond-group of shaping,

rollsindicated at 60' is preferably provided cling web are preferablyprovidedtoconvey sheets;

the web from the shaping rolls 550 into the drier 56, asindicated at 62,and'also to convey the web from the drier 56 to thesecond set of shapingrolls 60, as indicated at 63.- The web received from the first sets'ofshaping which may be similar in construction to the first drier. runningat a speed of 100 to QOO-feet a minute, it is found that a total dryinglength of about 1000 feet gives asubstantially dry web.

Satisfactory results are; obtained by con.-

structing each of the driers of a length of about 500 feet, andproviding an intermediate set of shaping rolls, as shown.

The material passing. from the final drier I "is then: preferably cutinto widths and removed for further processing. For this purpose acutter or slitter indicated generallyat is provided, which cutter may beof conventional character and of the type generally used to cut atraveling web of, paper into In actual practice,the.widths of stavesthus produced maybe cut by a plurality of saws (not shown)intoi'ndividual staves and then conveyed to coopering machines ofconventional character where these individual staves are .furtherprocessed to form the finished staves. As coopering machines arewellknow, and any conventional type of machine may be used forthispurpose, no attemptis made to illustrate the same herein. Figs.- 6

and 7 illustrate a-formed barrel stave before coopering,-as-it isproduced from pulped ture along its length as indicated at whichproduces the bulge of the finished barrel.-

The staves, as thus produced onthe forming machineare then completed onthe coopering machines to form the finish-ed staves, as illus- In amachine of this character,

trated in Figsr8 and 9. The-ends of the staves are tapered :as indicatedat 7 9, and the edge asindicated at80. The staves may' also I be beveledat the top and bottom edges as indicated at 81 and 82 respectively,toprovide beveled edgesto receive the cover and bottom of the barrel.The cover and bottom. of the barrel or keg may be formed directly. frombuilding .bo'ardformed on a convene .tional board machine by cutting theboard a into circular pieces and bevelingthese pieces A to cooperatewith the beveled surfaces of the stave ends.

Fig. 10 illustrates a completed"barrel formed of pulped fibrousmaterial, and con-- structed by assembling the individual cooperedstaves, as indicated at 85 and the cover 86 and bottom 87.

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed and thus far described, thestaves as formed are curved or bulged along the length, but are flatacross the width. When these staves are assembled to form the completedbarrel, and the hoops indicated at 88 are driven'on, the staves are bentby the pressure of the hoop-s so that the assembled staves form acontainer of circular cross-section. The hoops or binding wire thus holdthe individual staves in proper assembled relation in the usual manner.

If desired, the staves may also be given curvature across the widthduring formation. In Figs. 11 and 12 is illustrated a pair of shapingrolls adapted to impart to the staves during formation both a bulgealong the length and a curvature across the width. As illustrated, thelower roll 41 is provided with a plurality of curved surfaces 42 acrossthe length thereof similar to the rolls illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.Each of'the surfaces 42 is also curved across the width, as indicated inFig. 12 at 90, forming in effect a corrugated roll. This curvatureacross the width may be such as to provide a barrel stave having acurved surface of adiameter corresponding to the diameter of the barrelwhich is adapted to be formed therefrom. The curve 90 may vary along thelength of the surfaces 42', being of the largest diameter adjacent thecenter of the surfaces 42 and of the smallest diameter adjacent theends. This compensates for the diiference inthe diameter of the barrelat the bulging portion and at the ends, and provides a curved stavewhich cooperates with a plurality of similar staves to form thecompleted bulging barrel.

The upper roll 40 is formed with a plurality of concave surfaces 44:across the length thereof, which surfaces are also concaved across thewidth as indicated at 91 in Fig. 12. The shape or curvature of thesurfaces A of the roll 40' both along the length and across the widththereof is such as to be complementary with the surfaces 42 of the roll41.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate a barrel stave of pulped fibrous material asformed on the shaping rolls of Figs. 11 and 12. Each stave thus formedis seen to have a curvature along its length as indicated at 91, whichproduces the bulge of the finished barrel, and also is curved along itswidth as indicated at 92 to correspond with the desired diameter of thefinished barrel. The staves as thus formed, assume when assembled theproper curvature of the barrel, and. do not have to be drawn into shapeby the driving on of the hoops or binding wire, the latter serving in,this case merely to hold the staves in properly assemb led relation.

While the products and method herein described, and the form ofapparatus for carrying this method into effect, constitute preferredembodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to these precise products, method and form of apparatus,and that changes may be made therein Without departing from the scope ofthe invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. The method of forming non-plane surfaced boards,slats or the like from pulped fibrous material, which comprises formlngsaid pulped fibrous material into a traveling board web, shaping saidtraveling board web during formation and when still plastic into aplurality of non-plane parts, drying said traveling formed and shapedparts, and then cutting said dried and shaped traveling web intoindividual parts.

2. The method of forming barrel staves from pulped fibrous material,which comprises forming said pulped fibrous material into a travelingboard web, shaping said travelling web during formation and when stillplastic in simulation of the shape of barrel staves, continuouslyremoving said formed and shaped board web from the shaping zone, anddrying said formed and shaped board while maintaining the shape.

3. The method of forming barrel staves or the like from pulped fibrousmaterial, which comprises forming said pulped fibrous material into wetboard capable of sustaining its own weight, shaping said wet board tothe desired shape for forming barrel staves, partially drying saidformed and shaped board, again shaping said board when partially dried,and finally drying said board.

4. The method of forming barrel staves or the like from pulped fibrousmaterial, which comprises forming said pulped fibrous material into atraveling board web, shaping said traveling board web during formationand when still plastic to the desired shape for forming barrel staves,drying said formed and shaped traveling web, and cutting said dried andshaped web into barrel staves.

5.1m the manufacture of barrel staves or the like from pulped fibrousmaterial, in which said pulped fibrous material is formed into board andthe board is shaped when plastic to the desired shape to form barrelstaves, the method of drying said formed and shaped board whichcomprises drying the same to a substantially rigid state, and guiding itduring the drying process in a substantially continuous direction on asurface shaped to correspond to the shape of said board.

6. In the manufacture of barrel staves or the like from pulped fibrousmaterial, the method which consists in forming said pulped fibrousmaterial into board, and shaping said board during formation and whilestill plastic by molding to a gradual curvature to form bulging typebarrel staves.

course, said drying chamberhaving a sup porting surface for the webshaped to cor respond to the shape of said molded board web.

In testimony whereof Ihereto aflix my signature.

ALEXANDER R; WALTON.

comprising in combination, board-forming means, shaping rolls havingcooperating nonplane surfaces simulatingthe shape of barrel staves,means to partially dry the formed and shaped board, additionalshapingrolls shaped to correspond to the shape of said first shapingrolls, andmeans to finally dry said formed and shaped board.

9. Apparatus of the character described, comprising in combination,means for forming a traveling board web, and shaping rolls havingcomplementary non-plane surfaces simulating the shape of barrelstavesadapted to receive said traveling Web'from the form- 1 ing means and tomold said web to the desired shape of barrel staves as the web travelsthrough said shaping rolls.

10. In apparatus of the character described adapted to form curvedboards or laths for use as barrel staves or the like from a travelingweb of pulped fibrous material, shaping means comprising cooperatingshaping rolls provided with convex and concave forming surfacesrespectively shaped to simulate the shape of barrel staves.

11. For use in apparatus of thecharacter described adapted to formbarrel staves from a traveling board web of pulped fibrous material,cooperating shaping rolls "having a plurality of complementary convexandconcave forming surfaces respectively along the length thereof, each'ofsaid curved forming surfaces simulating the shape of a barrel stave.

12.. For use in apparatus of the character described adapted to formnon-plane surfaced boards or laths from a traveling web of pulpedfibrous material, in which the traveling web is shaped while plastic tothe desired non-plane shape, drying means for said formed and shapedtraveling web comprising a drying chamber through which said web travelsin a substantially continuous direction, and a guiding surface thereinfor said traveling web, said surface being shaped to correspond to theshape of said Web.

13. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination,board-forming means, said board-formlng means bemg adapted to form acontinuously traveling board web, shaping means having comple-- mentarynon-plane surfaces adapted to receive the board web from saidboard-forming means and to continuously mold'it to a correspondingshape, and: drying means includ- I inga drying chamber through which theshaped web passes in a substantiallystraight

